This Week in Gaming - JRPGs, Remasters, Overwatch and League of Masteries

I've been trying to blog more, I really have been. Typically my reason for not writing is "I don't know what to write about!" but after discussing it with some regulars and coworkers I'm going to write, at the very least, once a week about what I've been playing even if I think it's not particularly exciting to me. Unless I just don't play anything that week...which would be a problem in itself. Luckily, I haven't written in a while so I have a bit to talk about!

Firstly, League of Legends. Above all else, League of Legends is taking over LAN Mob like wildfire, myself included. I finally finished my provisional ranked matches and got plopped in Silver 4, which is fine by me! I don't really have any desire to climb the ranked ladder unless this season's gold skin is for a character I really like. It's an awful motivation I know, but Skinz 4 Winz, ya know? However, LAN Mob's own Slooze and Spydude have been actively playing Ranked as well as many of our regulars, which I think is great. I used to grind out Ranked games in various fighters and shooters throughout the years and I definitely see the value in it. Slooze put it a ton of games the last few days and climbed 2 or 3 divisions! It's great to see players devoted to a game with such an incredible amount of depth and variation. I don't want to ruin anyone's ranked experience or get hooked in myself, but I'll happily play normal matches with anyone who wants to! I like playing Jungle and I'll play anything but my current favorites are Graves, Kha-Zix, Zac, Ekko and Lee Sin. I've also been trying to play solo lane Taliyah when I can, but I'm still not very good. An interesting aspect of League that has directly affected the LAN center is the newest Mastery system update. Without getting too detailed the new system rewards players for getting S ranks after games, earning you a cool banner and a mark on your character card. This is a semi grindy system and has made for some pretty laughable situations in the center such as support Ahri's that build full damage (Thanks "Taggles"), all of our Bard players falling into deep despair and the most frequent, screams of "How did I only get a B!?". Overall, the mastery system is a positive thing, pushing the mobbers a bit to work hard and show off their champ masteries. If you wanna play some league with the mobbers stop by the shop any time of day! Most likely you will see somebody playing.

The second game capturing all of the mobbers interest in Overwatch. Enrique and myself have posted about this game a few times already, so I'll spare the rundown again. The new shooter by Blizzard is way funner than I ever could've imagined and the LAN Center is eating it up. I still get pretty annoyed with Mei, but I understand her role in the game. Still feelsbadman. This Sunday is our first Overwatch event, which should be a total blast. I look forward to Ranked coming out at the end of the month as well! I tend to get very very addicted to particular shooters every once in a while, and Overwatch was definitely not an exception.

Lastly, when I'm not at LAN Mob I've been chipping away at the Valkyria Chronicles PS4 remaster. When I'm finished with it I also picked up Odin Sphere Leifthrasir, which is another incredible JRPG that has been remastered. While I'm on the subject, I definitely think remasters are a good thing. A lot of people like to rip on developers for being "money grabbing" and choosing to do remasters, but for the most part they enable people to revisit an incredible game they may have missed. The originals of both of these titles are definitely underrated and don't really have the exposure they deserve. Nothing would make me happier then these remasters selling very well! My JRPG queue doesn't stop there! Thanks to the guys at my local Gamestop, I snagged the Lionheart Edition of Trails of Cold Steel for pretty cheap. I've never actually played this series so I'm super exciting to dig into that too. Lastly, I'll be playing through Suikoden 2 this summer. Undoubtedly my favorite JRPG of all time, I try to revisit this game every July. I have an incredibly difficult time putting into words how I feel about Suikoden 2, but check back here this summer and maybe I'll manage!

That's it for now, I'll be posting again next week! Hopefully I can make some progress in Valkyria Chronicles. To anyone unfamiliar with the title, look into it. It's really unique!